The 2026 MLB Draft came and went this past weekend and 613 players heard their names called. Future All-Stars were drafted this weekend. Maybe a future MVP or Cy Young. Possibly even a future Hall of Famer. The possibilities are endless and that’s what makes the draft so exciting. You can dream on every single player. The draft is one big Mystery Box.
It will be years until we can properly evaluate the 2026 Draft. We can take stock of each team’s draft class today, though, using what we know right now. Here are our top five draft classes this year, listed alphabetically, and their picks in the top three rounds.
Chicago White Sox
1st round: SS Roch Cholowsky, UCLA
Comp. A: SS Landon Thome, Nazareth Academy (IL)
2nd round: 2B Cole Prosek, Magnolia Heights HS (MS)
3rd round: RHP Joey Volchko, Georgia
Having the No. 1 overall pick doesn’t guarantee a great draft class, but it sure helps. Chicago used that No. 1 pick on Cholowsky, who was the consensus best player in the draft (it doesn’t always work out that way). Thome is indeed Hall of Famer Jim Thome’s son, though they’re different players. Jim hit 612 homers. Landon is more of a hit tool guy with some power, but he can really hit. Prosek is an industry favorite and could have gone in the middle of the first round. Volchko, aka the Volchnado, has first-round stuff and fifth-round control. The White Sox also did well to get Oregon State RHP Eric Segura (4th round) and New Jersey prep OF Alex Weingartner (6th round). Weingartner is very, very raw, but he has incredible natural gifts (athleticism, speed, etc.). Chicago landed high upside players up and down the draft, starting with Cholowsky.
Cleveland Guardians
1st round: RHP Liam Peterson, Florida
2nd round: LHP Logan Schmidt, Ganesha HS (CA)
3rd round: OF Tre Broussard, Houston
The Guardians are as good at developing pitchers as any team in the game, and Peterson and Schmidt are two talented balls of pitching clay for their player development folks. That also applies to Texas high school RHP Savion Sims (7th round) and Georgia RHP Matt Scott (8th round). Broussard, Wake Forest 3B Kade Lewis (4th round), and Louisville OF Lucas Moore (5th round) are quality college bats with different skill sets. Broussard has burgeoning power. Lewis is a pure bat-to-ball guy who basically swings and misses at a fastball. Moore is a speedster who wreaks havoc on the bases. Love the pitching, love the diversity in the bats.
Pittsburgh Pirates
1st round: OF Derek Curiel, LSU
2nd round: SS Aiden Ruiz, Stony Brook HS (NY)
Comp: 2B Chris Rembert, Auburn
3rd round: RHP Jason DeCaro, UNC
I like but don’t love the Curiel pick, mostly because there are questions about his power. I would rather swing big and go for impact with the No. 5 pick. Pittsburgh made up for it with Ruiz, who was the best defensive player in the draft (at any position), and Rembert, who has a chance to hit for significant power if the Pirates can get him to add loft to his swing. DeCaro, NC State LHP Ryan Marohn (5th round), and Alabama RHP Tyler Fay (6th round) have wide arsenals and plus command. The Pirates can really develop pitchers. Those three have a chance to be awfully good with a little more oomph on their fastballs. If they can get him signed, Georgia high school OF Malachi Washington (18th round) has the skill set that points to a future as a 20-20 center fielder, should it all work out.
St. Louis Cardinals
1st round: OF Trevor Condon, Etowah HS (GA)
Comp. A: RHP Tegan Kuhns, Tennessee
2nd round: SS Rocco Maniscalco, Oxford HS (AL)
Comp. B: OF Andrew Williamson, Central Florida
Comp. B: RHP Dawson Montesa, West Virginia
3rd round: OF Caden Ferraro, Texas Tech
This is my favorite draft class in the immediate aftermath. Condon is a joy. He has great bat-to-ball ability, an advanced approach, some power, top-of-the-line speed, and a hair-on-fire playing style. Kuhns had arguably the best pure stuff in the draft class. There were nights this spring he would park his fastball at 98 mph and throw it by hitters at the top of the zone with ease. Maniscalco is a switch-hitter with power potential and no-doubt shortstop defensive chops. Williamson has on-base ability and speed, and Montesa is a four-pitch guy who sits mid-90s. They were selected with the picks the Cardinals acquired in the three-team Brendan Donovan trade. Ferraro and Kansas State SS Dee Kennedy (4th round) have easy power. UCLA RHP Cal Randall (5th round) throws 90% fastballs, and it is an elite pitch with upper-90s velocity and terrific traits (spin, movement, etc.). He’s likely a reliever long-term, but he should be a good one, and he shouldn’t need much time in the minors. St. Louis had extra picks this draft and they landed an awful lot of players who project to be difference-makers at their positions.
Tampa Bay Rays
1st round: SS Grady Emerson, Fort Worth Christian (TX)
Comp. A: SS Taj Marchand, James Island HS (SC)
2nd round: RHP Ben Blair, Liberty
3rd round: RHP Gavin Giese, Dana Hills HS (CA)
Emerson, the No. 2 pick, has the talent to make a draft class by himself. Marchand was one of the younger players in the draft class and he puts up enormous exit velocities for his age. His swing is unorthodox, which kept him out of the first round, but no team embraces unorthodox as much as the Rays. Blair is right up Tampa’s alley as a pitcher with a funky delivery/arm slot, but also power stuff. Georgia high school RHP AJ Rice (7th round) is cut from that same cloth. Giese has four pitches and a great feel for spin, which is exactly the kind of pitcher the Rays have success developing into big-league contributors. If they can get him signed, California high school RHP Logan Georges (11th round) has a three-pitch mix and some of the best under-the-hood traits in the draft class. Emerson is the big name here, though Marchand has considerable upside, and the Rays loaded up on pitchers with analytically friendly power stuff and odd deliveries that present the hitter with an unusual look.
